oldgixxer
Registered
I was going through some old pictures with my daughter and stumbled across a bunch of my ATC 250R. So I thought this may be a good topic
Who had or enjoyed riding an ATC when you were a kid??? That is,before this CBS 60 Minutes episode ruined it for everyone
Man I loved me some ATC's! Always had a dirtbike as a kid but I hustled cutting grass and doing yard work in the neighborhood and was able to save up and buy a used '85 Honda ATC 125M with some help from my Mom. Got it for $400 back in '86 so it was a year old and hardly ridden.
Pull start,dual range transmission,no suspension,not very fast,maybe 45mph tops but man was that thing fun in the trails. Learned a few very important lessons: if you are tipping over on the side,NEVER put your foot down to prevent a tip over lest you run your foot,ankle,calve(in that order)over and make sure BOTH rear tires had exactly the same air pressure or you will veer violently to the left/right(depending which had less pressure) when you wheelied or any time the front wheel didnt have contact with the ground while accelerating.... Beat the snot outta it for a year then sold it and bought a slightly used '85 ATC 250R. Whoa,now this thing was on an entirely different level. A lot of suspension,nasty powerband,kickstarter that kicked forward instead of backwards(awesome for skinning and lumping up your right shin if your foot slipped off whilst kicking to start the engine).
That 60 Minutes article turned the public against 3-wheelers and portrayed them as deadly,irresponsible machines that would spell disaster for anybody who throws a leg over one. Honda was the first to pull them from the market,Kawasaki hung in for a little while longer,Suzuki and Yamaha also stopped production quickly as a result. This spelled the end to an era of great machines never to be seen again.
So that being said,I had a blast riding these things growing up. Heres a pic of the 125M(google) and a couple that I found in the attic of my 250R. Id load up my pick-up and head down the Garden State Parkway to South Jersey and hit up the miles and miles of sand trails in the Pine Barrens. I melted the OEM piston racing a Banshee down a mile long fire road. I learned that it wasnt a good idea to lock the thumb-throttle wide open for a few minutes on 87 pump gas in 100degree temps with slightly *lean* premix lol. Gave me a reason to go .030" over,mild port work and Boyesen reeds. Man that thing was killer after I did that work. But still couldnt touch my buddies '87 Kawasaki Tecate 250(I posted a random pic). he never disclosed what he did to the engine,and it sucked getting blasted with dirt and rocks cause he was always in the lead lol.
Ended up selling it so I could fund my first street race bike,an '84 GS1150ES. Looking back now,I wish I would have kept it as they are super rare and super expensive in mint condition.
Id enjoy hearing from any of you that had an ATC or rode them back in the day.
**Posting from my phone,cant get the last 2 pics to be upright sorry
Who had or enjoyed riding an ATC when you were a kid??? That is,before this CBS 60 Minutes episode ruined it for everyone
Man I loved me some ATC's! Always had a dirtbike as a kid but I hustled cutting grass and doing yard work in the neighborhood and was able to save up and buy a used '85 Honda ATC 125M with some help from my Mom. Got it for $400 back in '86 so it was a year old and hardly ridden.
Pull start,dual range transmission,no suspension,not very fast,maybe 45mph tops but man was that thing fun in the trails. Learned a few very important lessons: if you are tipping over on the side,NEVER put your foot down to prevent a tip over lest you run your foot,ankle,calve(in that order)over and make sure BOTH rear tires had exactly the same air pressure or you will veer violently to the left/right(depending which had less pressure) when you wheelied or any time the front wheel didnt have contact with the ground while accelerating.... Beat the snot outta it for a year then sold it and bought a slightly used '85 ATC 250R. Whoa,now this thing was on an entirely different level. A lot of suspension,nasty powerband,kickstarter that kicked forward instead of backwards(awesome for skinning and lumping up your right shin if your foot slipped off whilst kicking to start the engine
). That 60 Minutes article turned the public against 3-wheelers and portrayed them as deadly,irresponsible machines that would spell disaster for anybody who throws a leg over one. Honda was the first to pull them from the market,Kawasaki hung in for a little while longer,Suzuki and Yamaha also stopped production quickly as a result. This spelled the end to an era of great machines never to be seen again.
So that being said,I had a blast riding these things growing up. Heres a pic of the 125M(google) and a couple that I found in the attic of my 250R. Id load up my pick-up and head down the Garden State Parkway to South Jersey and hit up the miles and miles of sand trails in the Pine Barrens. I melted the OEM piston racing a Banshee down a mile long fire road. I learned that it wasnt a good idea to lock the thumb-throttle wide open for a few minutes on 87 pump gas in 100degree temps with slightly *lean* premix lol. Gave me a reason to go .030" over,mild port work and Boyesen reeds. Man that thing was killer after I did that work. But still couldnt touch my buddies '87 Kawasaki Tecate 250(I posted a random pic). he never disclosed what he did to the engine,and it sucked getting blasted with dirt and rocks cause he was always in the lead lol.
Ended up selling it so I could fund my first street race bike,an '84 GS1150ES. Looking back now,I wish I would have kept it as they are super rare and super expensive in mint condition.
Id enjoy hearing from any of you that had an ATC or rode them back in the day.
**Posting from my phone,cant get the last 2 pics to be upright sorry
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